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- Released: September 2008
- Rating: 10/10
- Vote and comment on this album:
One great meets another Southside Johnny Tom Waits.
Seems like enigmatic Tom Waits is the guy to check – out these days. ScarlettJohansson, John Hammond and Holly Cole have all been at it; rifling throughol gravel necks songbook. This exhilarating 12 tracker of covers makesfascinating listening, with guest vocals from the legendary Waits himself.
SJ originally intended a standards album covering Frank Sinatra and Billie Holliday,but he turned to a long standing idea of super-charging Waits songs with abig brassy sound, a pet sound of big band music which hed admired sincehearing STAX/VOLT artists and Count Basie in particular. To achieve this aim,he used Asbury Jukes trombonist Richie LaBamba Rosenberg as arranger-orchestrator-conductorfor four live studio recording sessions between June 2005 and December 2006using 35 musicians.
Early demos had been sent for Waits approval, which he enthusiastically endorsedby guesting on Walk Away. The result is magnificent, with rip-roaring blastslike the punchy Down, Down, Down as the rhythm section has a ball. Things godecidedly Brat Pack for the lush swinging Walk Away with Waits unmistakablecontribution giving added gravitas, and he loves every minute adapting hissinging style to this new interpretation.
A similar mood ensues on the brass-heavy Please Call Me Baby, andthrusting Bond-like All The Time In The World (complete with rock-bluesguitar licks). A New Coat Of Paint is awesome, with, once again, thebrass boys letting rip.
Juxtaposing the big sound, there are some exquisitetender moments found on the chill-out Shiver Me Timbers, though for meanyway, the best of all are the slow Tango-fused Tango Till and coolcloser Temptation (with SJ pussy-catting his snarl wonderfully) rubberstamping a brilliant concept, much like Bruce Springsteen Seeger Sessions.
File under: Hot.
Weblink:southsidejohnny.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Yesterday Is Here
2. Down, Down, Down
3. Walk Away
4. Please Call Me Baby
5. Grapefruit Moon
6. All The Time In The World
7. Tango Till Theyre Sore
8. Johnsburg, Illinois
9. New Coat Of Paint
10. Shiver Me Timbers
11. Dead And Lovely
12. Temptation
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.